Kiosk outfit ecoATM now recycling video games

San Diego start up ecoATM, which makes automated kiosks to buy back cell phones, has expanded the merchandise it will take its recycling kiosks to include video games.

The company will pay consumers for all types of video games including DVD and cartridge type games made for Xbox, Wii, PlayStation and others.

“This is our next step toward becoming a full-service buyback and recycling center for consumer electronics,” said Tom Tullie, chief executive of ecoATM. “We started with mobile phones, then added MP3 players and are now incorporating video games.”

Six prototype ecoATM’s kiosks are located around San Diego, mostly in Westfield shopping malls, and in Omaha and Kansas City.The average customer walks away with $25 from an ecoATM kiosk, according to the company.

ecoATM makes its money by selling the phones, music players and games to distributors who resell them, or by recycling the electronics for parts.

Consumers in the U.S. are growing more accustomed to using self-service kiosks to pay for groceries or

check in for flights at airports. So now these computer stations are expanding into other industries. Coinstar, a major kiosk maker, recently invested an undisclosed amount in ecoATM.